defference between bhante,venerable,..

[effort]

hello,

what is the difference between bhante, venerable, phra and bhikkhu?

i think phara is thai word for bhikkhu.

help me to use of these words appropriately.

[mikenz66]

Hi effort,

The following may be slightly oversimplified.

A Bhikkhu is a man who is fully ordained.

Bhante is a Pali honorific title that a lay person would use to address a bhikkhu, much like one might use "sir" to address a superior. Venerable and Phra are English and Thai translations.

However, it is also customary for lay people to attach bhante/phra/venerable to a bhikkhu's name when referring to them. So I might refer to a Thai monk as "Phra X" ("Hello, Phra X"), whereas if there were no lay people around Phra Y would probably just say "Hey, X, how's it going?"

What I'm not so sure about is the way some monks write their name as Bhikkhu X or X Bhikkhu. I don't see the "Bhikkhu" as an honorific, so would prefer to add "Bhante" or "Venerable". Perhaps someone more knowledgeable can comment.

Then there's the Burmese, who add the honorific "Sayadaw" at the end for distinguished teachers. It's hard to keep up...

Hope that helps a little.

Mike

[effort]

thank you, mikenz

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

The term "Sayādaw" is used both in front and behind.

When used in front — Sayādaw U Sobhaṇa, it is used with the monk's ordained name, when used behind, Mahāsi Sayādaw, it refers to the monastery, i.e. the Sayādaw of the Mahāsi monastery, or the abbot of the monastery with the big drum. The "U" (pronounced "oo") is an honorific much like Venerable or Phra.

Sayādaw is more akin the Mahāthera, or abbot. The Burmese "Ashin" is often used too — as Ashin U Pesala.

[Oleksandr]

When a layman is talking about a monk in Pali, how does he refer to him? Does he use anything like English "Venerable" before monk's name?

And what about Sinhala and Burmese?

[mikenz66]

In my experience, Sinhalese seem to use the Pali Bhante. ("Greetings Bhante X...").

Metta
Mike